Marsanne is the most popular white wine grapeplanted in the Northern Rhone wine region. In Hermitage , where the fruit reaches its best expression, it is usually blended with Roussanne and Clairette . Marsanne adds depth and rich textures to the wine. Through blending, the grape helps produce rich, deeply colored wines with flavors and scents of roasted nuts, pears, white peaches, honeydew melon, spice and flowers. With age, Marsanne based wines deepen in color and complexity. Wines produced from Marsanne are quite rich and can even develop a silky, exotic, oily texture.